Sophomores Darius Smith and Fco Ramos had two hits apiece in support of senior starter Bleiz Kimbrough as Taft High needed just five innings to put away Dayton 11-1 in a nonleague home game.
“We played one of our better games today and it showed with the scoreboard,” said Taft coach Matt Hilgers after all nine Tiger starters collected at least one hit in an error-free effort that improved the team to 4-6 and snapped a three-game losing skid.
Kimbrough averaged a strikeout per inning while surrendering just four hits, while Taft stole six bases, including two each by seniors Tyee Fisher and Cody Knott in a game shortened by the state’s 10-run mercy rule.
Junior Eli DeMello drove home two runs for the Tigers, while Knott, Smith and freshman Kaden Hindman knocked in one each as Taft scored four runs in the first inning and six in the fourth.
“We committed zero errors this game, which might be the first game of the year for us that we have reached this accomplishment [Taft also did not commit an error in a 15-0 victory over Elmira],” Hilgers said. “We also added to this an 11-hit effort from the plate in a manner of five innings. We were pleased to see a solid effort heading into the start of league play next week.”
Dayton fell to 3-5-1 with the defeat.
The Tigers return to the home diamond for their Special District 2 opener at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday against Rainier.
“Everyone is starting off next week looking to do the same thing and that’s win,” Hilgers said. “Right now, we are focused on what we can do to get better before our game on Tuesday.”
Taft 11, Dayton 1 DAYTON AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI Garret Doran 2 0 0 0 Trenton Fisher 2 1 1 0 Gavin Arce 3 0 1 0 Eli DeMello 3 0 1 2 Liam Munoz 1 0 0 0 Cody Knott 3 2 1 1 Jarin Miquez 2 0 1 0 Tyee Fisher 2 2 1 0 Kaden Fergus 2 0 0 0 Bleiz Kimbrough 2 0 1 0 Dylan Lane 2 0 0 0 Darius Smith 2 2 2 1 Kobin Oliveria 1 1 0 0 Kaden Hindman 3 0 1 1 Dawson Ashley 2 0 0 0 FCO Ramos 3 1 2 0 Zeke Hodges 2 0 2 1 Ethan Thomas 3 2 1 0 *Lucas Hindman 0 1 0 0 TOTALS 17 1 4 1 TOTALS 23 11 11 5 DAYTON 001 00 -- 1 TAFT 400 61 -- 11 LOB--Dayton 4, Taft 7. E--Zeke Hodges (2), Kobin Oliveria, Gavin Arce, Kaden Fergus. 2B--Tyee Fisher, FCO Ramos. HBP--Kobin Oliveria. SB--Tyee Fisher (2), Trenton Fisher, Darius Smith, Cody Knott (2). DAYTON IP H R ER BB SO HR Gavin Arce (L) 3.00 7 5 2 2 2 0 Zeke Hodges 1.00 4 5 0 2 0 0 Kaden Fergus 0.00 0 1 0 3 0 0 TAFT Bleiz Kimbrough (W) 5.00 4 1 1 2 5 0 PB--Kaden Fergus. WP--Zeke Hodges (2), Gavin Arce, Kaden Fergus. SO--Dawson Ashley (2), Kobin Oliveria, Garret Doran, Dylan Lane, Ethan Thomas, Bleiz Kimbrough. BB--Liam Munoz, Garret Doran, Tyee Fisher, Bleiz Kimbrough, Eli DeMello, Trenton Fisher (2), Darius Smith, Cody Knott.
